Tracking where senators stand on climate legislation

Kay Bailey HutchisonSen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sent the following letter to Grist reader Blanca Estela in early October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation.  Hutchison says she opposes a cap-and-trade system, arguing that it would raise energy prices for average Americans and cause economic hardship.  She says she does want to invest in alternative energy. Dear Friend: Thank you for contacting me regarding the American Clean Energy and Security Act. I welcome your thoughts and comments. In our effort to reduce emissions, I believe we must invest in alternative sources of energy. Wind, solar, nuclear, and …

Chuck Grassley Sen. Chuck Grassley has dodged and weaved when asked whether climate change is a human-caused problem that needs to be taken seriously, as David Roberts points out. Grassley exhibited that same tendency in an email he sent recently to constituent (and Grist reader) Ben Thompson, who had asked the senator about his views on climate legislation. Grassley wrote that schemes to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions “are effectively a national energy tax,” and argued that Congress should focus instead on “increas[ing] the availability of renewable and alternative energy sources.” Thank you for taking the time to email me. As your …

Lisa Murkowski Sen. Lisa Murkowski is open to voting for a cap-and-trade climate bill if it would aggressively boost nuclear power and domestic oil and gas drilling, she said in a C-SPAN interview aired on Oct. 18.  “Count me as one of those who will keep my mind open as we move forward,” she said.  “It seems like we’ve gotten to this point where you’re either for Waxman-Markey or Kerry-Boxer or you’re against the environment,” she continued.  “That’s not a fair statement or comparison.” She said she’s spoken with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) about climate legislation, after Graham teamed up …

Lindsey GrahamSen. Lindsey Graham has stepped up to become the leading Republican advocate of a bipartisan climate bill.  In a New York Times op-ed on Oct. 11, Graham joined with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to put forward a framework for climate legislation that they say can pass Congress and become “the blueprint for a clean-energy future that will revitalize our economy, protect current jobs and create new ones, safeguard our national security and reduce pollution.” Graham wants a climate bill that will: boost nuclear power by giving tax credits to the nuke industry, streamlining the permitting process for plants, and …

Evan Bayh Sen. Evan Bayh is widely considered to be a fence-sitter on climate legislation.  He has a generally respectable environmental record, but his home state of Indiana is reliant on manufacturing and coal, so he worries that a climate bill could raise energy costs for his constituents and their employers.   In August, Bayh and nine other Democrats wrote a letter to President Obama saying they wouldn’t support a climate bill that puts American businesses on an uneven playing field.  They called for a bill to include a tariff on goods imported into the U.S. from countries that don’t …

George LeMieuxNew Sen. George LeMieux — appointed in September by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) to serve through the end of 2010, finishing out the term of retired Mel Martinez — has yet to vote on any key legislation that might give us clues as to whether he would support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.  He said after his appointment that he would want to study specific climate legislation before coming down on one side or the other, while also stressing that the nation needs to “move toward renewable energy,” which he said includes nuclear power. LeMieux previously served as chief …

Robert Byrd Sen. Robert Byrd hated the climate bill that passed the House in June (more on that below), but he seems a little more open to the Kerry-Boxer bill being considered in the Senate.  As the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported just after the bill was introduced: [Byrd] said he was encouraged by the greater focus on clean coal technology, but still concerned about the proposed bill. “I will continue to work with my colleagues to strike a balance that treats West Virginia’s interests fairly as the legislative process moves forward,” Byrd said. “However, I will actively oppose any bill …

Mark UdallSen. Mark Udall is considered a likely “yes” vote for a climate bill in the Senate, though he wants to see more support for nuclear power and natural gas. In this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in Colorado, Udall doesn’t mention climate legislation specifically, but he calls for a strong renewable energy standard.  He also touts his support for development of carbon-capture-and-storage technology for coal-fired power plants. Dear Matthew, Thank you for contacting me about renewable energy. I appreciate your taking the time to share your specific thoughts about this subject. I strongly support reducing our country’s dependence …

Michael BennetSen. Michael Bennet sent this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Bennet calls the House climate bill, which passed in June, “a significant step in the right direction,” and he sounds generally positive about the Kerry-Boxer climate bill that’s now being considered in the Senate. Dear Matthew: Thank you for contacting me regarding comprehensive energy and climate change legislation in the 111th Congress. I appreciate hearing from you. The nation has come a long way in pursuing a consensus on energy policy and climate change, and it …

Ben Nelson Sen. Ben Nelson doesn’t believe a cap-and-trade climate bill can pass Congress this session, he said on Oct. 30 — and he doesn’t intend to do anything to help it. “I haven’t been able to sell that argument to my farmers, and I don’t think they’re going to buy it from anybody else,” Nelson said in an interview on CNBC.  “I think at the end of the day, the people who turn the switch on at home will be disadvantaged.” —– Here’s more on Nelson and climate, as written by Kate Sheppard on July 24, 2009: Nelson has …

Joe Lieberman“I’m trying to work with the group in the middle,” says Sen. Joe Lieberman, describing to National Journal his role in brokering a climate agreement.  He’s pushing particularly hard for more support for nuclear power in a climate bill, saying, “I think it’s one of the key bridges that I can help build to bring people across the bridge to support global warming legislation.” Lieberman says he believes a climate bill will get 60 votes and pass, if not this year, then in the first quarter of 2010.  And he says the bill doesn’t have to be perfect: “[T]he …

Jon TesterThe junior senator from Montana, Jon Tester has stayed relatively quiet on climate legislation and thus remains in the “fence-sitter” category. In late October, Tester expressed interest in Sen. Maria Cantwell’s (D-Wash.) climate bill, which thus far hasn’t gotten any traction in the Senate: “I’d like to see what Maria’s got. I’m not real happy with [Kerry-Boxer]. I don’t want something real, real complicated.” But Tester does believe action on climate change is necessary, as he told the Montana Audubon Society in June: “I think climate change is real, and we need to do something about it. We also …

Kay HaganKay Hagan, junior senator from North Carolina, is not a shoo-in on the Kerry-Boxer climate bill, but she appears to be leaning toward supporting it. When asked in mid-October if she would support a climate bill with cap-and-trade, the senator replied, “We’re certainly talking about it. The Kerry-Boxer bill is … out there but it’s not complete yet. So I’m certainly going to have to wait to look at the bill. I certainly say that climate change is real; I am extremely concerned about it. And I want to do what we need to do to be sure our …

Dianne FeinsteinSen. Dianne Feinstein is expected to vote in favor of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In a November 2009 letter to a Grist reader, she doesn’t explicitly endorse the bill, but she does say it “represents an important step”: Dear [Constituent]: Thank you for writing to express your views about the “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.” I share your support for taking strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and I welcome the opportunity to respond. Climate change has already begun to change the world as we know it. Eight of the Earth’s nine warmest years on record …

Arlen Specter Sen. Arlen Specter is considered a fence sitter on climate legislation, though on Nov. 5 he sided with all but one of the Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee in voting to move forward with the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.  As Darren Samuelsohn of Greenwire reported: Specter bemoaned his inability to offer amendments addressing his home state’s steel, coal and refining industries. But he said it was more important to pass the climate bill out of committee now, given the international spotlight on the Obama administration’s role during a major U.N. conference Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen, Denmark. …

Carl Levin Sen. Carl Levin is certainly concerned about climate change, but it’s unclear whether he will support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In this letter sent to a constituent in early November 2009, the senator stresses that other nations must commit to binding greenhouse-gas limits. He calls for a climate bill that will account for regional differences in the U.S., impose tariffs on goods from countries that haven’t committed to action, and preclude states from setting their own, tougher standards for automobile emissions (California, he’s talking to you):  Dear [Constituent], Thank you for contacting me regarding global climate change. There …

Roger Wicker Sen. Roger Wicker plans to oppose the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.  In this letter to a constituent, he writes, “I am opposed to any sort of system to cap carbon emissions permits because it would have no effect on climate change and is an unwarranted tax increase on the American people.” Wicker calls for more offshore drilling and nuclear power to boost energy supplies. Dear [Constituent], Thank you for contacting me regarding our nation’s energy policy.  I am glad to have the benefit of your views on this issue. It remains important that Congress work to ensure that the …

Mark Warner Sen. Mark Warner recognizes the need to take action on climate change, but wants to ensure that legislation will not negatively impact the economy. Warner seems a safe bet to support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In recent months, he has underlined the severity of the climate crisis and the steps necessary to solve it. Speaking to the National Energy Summit and International Dialogue in September, Warner strongly emphasized the need to take immediate action: “The idea that we’re going to, for one more year, delay trying to take action on this critically important issue around energy would be …

Richard Lugar “I don’t see any climate bill on the table right now that I can support,” Sen. Richard Lugar said on Nov. 10, dashing any hopes that he might get behind some version of the Kerry-Boxer legislation that’s moving through the Senate.  “We really have to start from scratch again,” he continued.  Lugar has been leaning this way for some time. The first week of November, he joined with other Republicans in demanding a more in-depth EPA analysis of the Kerry-Boxer bill; the Republicans insist they need more info on the bill’s potential economic impacts, while Democrats accuse them …

Dick Durbin In this letter to Grist reader and Illinois constituent Kevin Wolz, Sen. Dick Durbin signals strong support for the Kerry-Boxer climate bill: Dear Mr. Wolz, Thank you for contacting me regarding the creation of a national “cap-and-trade” program to address global warming. I appreciate hearing from you. Global warming is one of the most significant environmental crises we face. Most scientists believe that increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will raise the earth’s temperature by as much as three to ten degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. I believe Congress needs to take action to …